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9 Mar 2010 : Column 254W—continued
Departmental ICT
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information technology projects initiated by his Department were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320434]
Joan Ruddock: No information technology projects initiated by DECC have been cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months.
Departmental Languages
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided. [320416]
Joan Ruddock: We have no central record of any expenditure in the last 12 months on foreign language training.
Departmental Public Relations
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on news and public relations in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10. [311569]
Joan Ruddock:
The cost of all DECC communications staff in 2008-09 (including press officers) was £512,000, but note that this relates to the period from October
2008, as prior to this costs were divided between BIS and DEFRA (the Departments from which DECC's original teams were drawn), for which disaggregated figures for DECC's predecessor teams are not available. Costs from April 2009 to January 2010 (the latest date available) were £1,530,000.
Between September 2008 and March 2009 DECC spent approximately £119,000 through public relations agencies on COFs rosters. In 2009-10, DECC plans to spend a total of approximately £90,000 on public relations. These figures include all PR expenditure incurred by the Department on the Act On CO2 campaign, including media relations activity and PR for roadshows.
For details of campaign advertising media costs in 2008-09 and 2009-10 I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 8 February 2010, Official Report, column 728W, to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps).
Electricity
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's latest estimate is of the cost of electricity in pence per kWh provided by (a) coal combustion plants, (b) pulverised fuel steam plants, (c) open-cycle gas turbines, (d) gas combustion plants, (e) nuclear fission plants, (f) biomass combustion plants, (g) offshore wind turbines, (h) onshore wind turbines and (i) wave and marine (hydroelectricity) plants; and if he will make a statement. [321340]
Mr. Kidney: Work is ongoing to update the Department of Energy and Climate Change's cost assumptions for different forms of generation.
The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in recent years to inform policy decisions. Some of these estimates were published as part of the Energy Review (2006):
The analysis underpinning Renewable Energy Strategy, published in July 2009, used assumptions on the generating costs of different renewable electricity generation technologies, full details of which are set out in Element (2009) and Redpoint/Trilemma (2009), which are available on the DECC website.
| Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for renewable generation plant | |
| Technology | Levelised cost (£/MWh) |
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated, for their December 2008 report:
Their analysis for non-renewable plant is set out in table 2 and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and where applicable the cost of carbon allowances (EU ETS). Moreover, for nuclear, they also include the costs of decommissioning and waste.
| Table 2: Levelised cost estimates for non-renewable generation plant | |
| Technology | Levelised cost (£/MWh) |
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.
Electricity Generation
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2009, Official Report, columns 818-19W, on electricity generation: costs, if he will include in the estimated levelised costs associated with 1MW of electricity generated the level of subsidy provided for each different generating technology. [321403]
Mr. Kidney: Onshore wind receives 1 Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) per MWh and offshore wind receives 1.5 ROCs per MWh.
The predicted nominal value of a ROC in 2010 is estimated to be worth £40.55, dropping to £39.34 in 2015 (based on 2008-09 figures). It should, however, be noted that only about 80 per cent. of this value is likely to be passed to the generators through Power Purchase Agreements.
Onshore and offshore wind will also receive a Levy Exemption Certificate worth £4.70 for each MWh of electricity they generate (based on 2009-10 figures).
Energy Supply
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what methodology his Department uses to calculate the level of expected energy unserved. [320308]
Mr. Kidney: The Government published a paper setting out the methodology for expected energy unserved as part of the Energy Markets Outlook Report in October 2007. This is available on the BIS website at:
Energy: Prices
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what guidance his Department provides to energy customers switching suppliers for them to avoid tariffs that become more expensive during the changeover period. [320815]
Mr. Kidney: Ofgem is responsible for the regulation of gas and electricity supply, including the rules governing switching supplier. Customers switching supplier may cancel the agreement within seven working days after receiving the confirmation letter from the new supplier, or seven days after signing a contract face to face with a sales agent.
Customers may also exercise their right to transfer supply to a different tariff or supplier without having to pay the increased charges providing they inform their new supplier within 20 working days of receiving the notification of a price change, and then start the switching process within a further 15 working days. Suppliers must include a reminder of these rights in the price notifications sent to customers.
Fossil Fuels: Imports
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) gross and (b) net quantity of (i) coal, (ii) oil and (iii) gas imported into the UK was in each of the last five years. [320323]
Mr. Kidney: The amounts of coal, oil and gas imported and exported by the UK for each year between 2004 and 2008 are shown in the following tables.
| Coal | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Primary o il | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Petroleum products | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Gas | |||||
| GigaWatt h ours | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
Fossil Fuels: Russia
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) gross and (b) net quantity of (i) coal, (ii) oil and (iii) gas imported from Russia was in each of the last five years. [320325]
Mr. Kidney: The amounts of coal, oil and gas imported from and exported to Russia by the UK for each year between 2004 and 2008 are shown in the following table.
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
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